This post is meant to direct attention towards the fact that several of the sites found in Aqua Hobby's Links section direct users to sites that unconsentually upload spyware and other such garbage programs onto your PC.

Duely noted, it was my fault for using IE in the first place, and worse off, having the security settings set at medium.

The amount of popups I was experiencing was absolutely ridiculous, and such problems NEVER occured prior to me exploring the links section of Aqua Hobby.

While I am considerably unhappy to the point where I'd write something like this, I do realize that Aqua Hobby is not at fault here. However, be warned. The links are not a safe place and should not be utilized by anyone.

Unfortunately, I am unable to pinpoint the culprits and I am also unwilling to duplicate the exploration that led to this frustration. However, I do speak with absolute and unwavering certainty that these files have come from linked sites in the Aqua Hobby Links section. Please, be carefull, unless you enjoy looking at raw data on a black screen for twenty minutes due to lack of caution._________________Creative Minds Are Rarely Tidy.

It could be that the people posting the links are using another browser besides IE, such as Firefox, too. Then they might not see the monstrosities in the links that they are posting. Being a Linux/Firefox user myself, I'd still say, if you use IE and are aware of such content, a warning to other IE users would be most considerate and nice of you.

Unfortunately, that's all that can be said or done, tho - a rule about it would be next to impossible to enforce. Still, your bringing attention to the matter can help at least where other IE users are concerned.

As a side note, I'm not one to harp on people's choice for operating systems or browsers, and I say what you like and use is up to you and nobody's business. However if anyone has reservations about using Firefox or think it doesn't work for something, I'd suggest downloading it to try and then looking at the extensions for it, which make it very powerful. At first (one to two years ago) I didn't like Mozilla or Firefox at all, but since the improvements and handy extensions, I can honestly say I recommend it wholeheartedly now. Especially with using a clever Adblock filter, I am seeing the web as it should be, without any of the annoyances. I've become very spoiled!

I just hope that Firefox doesn't become so popular that it brings about its own demise! I'm afraid that if it were to become a dominant browser, it'd be the target of a whole lot of malware like IE is now.

It could be that the people posting the links are using another browser besides IE, such as Firefox, too. Then they might not see the monstrosities in the links that they are posting. Being a Linux/Firefox user myself, I'd still say, if you use IE and are aware of such content, a warning to other IE users would be most considerate and nice of you.

Unfortunately, that's all that can be said or done, tho - a rule about it would be next to impossible to enforce. Still, your bringing attention to the matter can help at least where other IE users are concerned.

As a side note, I'm not one to harp on people's choice for operating systems or browsers, and I say what you like and use is up to you and nobody's business. However if anyone has reservations about using Firefox or think it doesn't work for something, I'd suggest downloading it to try and then looking at the extensions for it, which make it very powerful. At first (one to two years ago) I didn't like Mozilla or Firefox at all, but since the improvements and handy extensions, I can honestly say I recommend it wholeheartedly now. Especially with using a clever Adblock filter, I am seeing the web as it should be, without any of the annoyances. I've become very spoiled!

I just hope that Firefox doesn't become so popular that it brings about its own demise! I'm afraid that if it were to become a dominant browser, it'd be the target of a whole lot of malware like IE is now.

Firefox is a wonderfull internet browser that I use frequently.

As you say, one can only hope that Firefox's popularity won't be its own undoing.

I credit this particular mishap to IE. I bit the bullet and clicked around the links section with FF and it was smooth sailing._________________Creative Minds Are Rarely Tidy.

I am one of the keepers of "The Portal". I would be VERY interested if someone can verify what sites are causing issues. Check every link before it is posted. However, I run Opera and firefox.

It is possible to let me know what links you visited. I will investigate this further this evening._________________"... instead of considering what to say when they write, people now just let thoughts drool out onto the screen," - about e-mail
Irons.